WORRIED ... Gary Speed I pray Toon don't do a Leeds By STEVE BRENNER Published: Today GARY SPEED fears Newcastle could do a Leeds and slip into footballing oblivion. The former Toon midfielder enjoyed six brilliant years at St James’ Park when Champions League action was on the menu and honours were being chased. But fast forward to tomorrow and Newcastle rock up to Speed’s former club Bolton just five points clear of the drop zone and still facing a relegation nightmare. Newcastle are starting to show signs of recovery on and off the pitch with owner Mike Ashley and managing director Derek Llambias beginning to take a far more hands-on role with the Geordies. Speed, though, is still worried about the future. He said: “Newcastle need stability and they need patience to get back to where they belong, at the top end of the table. “The potential is there for all to see. Aston Villa should be a model for Newcastle right now. “But everyone knows what happened at Leeds and the same thing could happen at Newcastle. “Everyone involved with the club has to be so careful. Recruiting the right players is so important. “The positive view is they won’t be another Leeds and I’m very hopeful it won’t happen, but who knows? What happened at Leeds was a tragedy and I just hope it doesn’t repeat itself at Newcastle. “Aston Villa have patiently built under an excellent manager and now they are in danger of really challenging the big four. “It might take 10 years to reach that level for Newcastle, but they have to build slowly and surely if they want to compete with the big boys. “The manager, whoever that is, needs time to build things up. They need a 10-year plan, not a 10-minute one. “Relegation this season will go down to the wire and it is now all about who hits form at the right time. “Newcastle have the players to stay up, but they have to have belief in themselves.” When Speed was in his pomp on Tyneside, Bobby Robson had the city rocking and everyone believing. But Ashley’s reign on Tyneside has so far been marred by bitter fall-outs and broken promises. Speed added: “As a player you never really know what is going on at boardroom level, but it is a fact that players play better at a stable club. “Sometimes players look for excuses when things are not going well and I think that is what happened at Newcastle. “Players should not use things that happen off the pitch as an excuse, they should look at themselves, but it does happen. Advertisement var RStag = ""; try{ RStag = segQS; } catch(e){ RStag = ""; } document.write(''); <a href="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/football.thesun.co.uk/mainhomepage;pos=mpu;sz=300x250;tile=2;bl=No;ord=1235799925508?" class="border-none" alt="Ad Frame"></a> “It is not conducive to a great atmosphere and that affects players. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it often does. You are handing players a ready-made excuse.” Veteran Speed, 39, made over 250 appearances for Newcastle and knows exactly what is needed to get the Geordie nation jumping again. He said: “Nobody will be more pleased than me if Alan Shearer became Newcastle manager. The club means everything to him, the same as any other Geordie. “He would be a perfect candidate if the job came up because of his mental strength, attitude and knowledge of the game. Geordies, and for that matter everyone else in football, would love to see him there.” Bolton v Newcastle is exclusively live on Setanta Sports 1 tomorrow at 1pm. To subscribe, go to setanta.com or call 0871 200 74 94.
Comments